The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1887-09-09
THE ADOPTION OF THE AMERI-
CAN CONSTITUTION.
EDITOR TELEGRAPH.

EDITOR TELEGRAPH.
On the 18th of the present month will
be the centennial anniversary of the final
adoption of the constitution of the United
States, (" the great bulwark of American
liberty" by the convention called for
that purpose at Philadelphia, where its
centennial anniversary is to be imposing
ly celebrated, and when We consider
the loved and learned patriots that took
part In that convention we do not won
der at the great and good work that they
had done. At or about 8 o'clock P. NJ.
on the 18th of September the last reso-
luton was adopted on this document,
which is the organic law Of the land, as
follows : "Done in convention, by the
unanimous consent of the States pr esent,
the 18th day of September, in the year
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred
and eighty-seven, and of the independ-
ence of the United States of America
the twelfth. In witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names" And
at the head of this lict We zee the name of
" the father of his country" as President
and deputy from Virginia, and further
Gown the list we see others whose names
and deeds will be handed down in his
tory for the many generations to come
such names as Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison, Benjamin Franklin,
Robert Morris, Charles Pickney and
Daniel of st. Thomas Jenifer, whose
piety and learning probably excelled
that of any other man of his time, and
many others, equally as well fitted for
the purpose end in looking over this
list we do not worder that they formed
a government that so well suited the
purposes of the people that it has under
gone but, few changes since. For in
stance, the first ten amendments were
adopted shortly afterwards, to satisfy
those who thought that the constitution
gave too much power to the Federal
Government, and hence are known as a
"bill of rights" the only other changes,
with the exception of two, being those
in the reconstruction period Of our his
tory. And as we contemplate the far
reaching influence and results of this
vortex of our history, do we fully realize
the vast strides civilization has made in
this stretch of years intervening between
the afternoon of September IL, 1887,
and September IL, 1887! What changes
have come over the world since then !!
At that time there W !, not religious
journal, nor even an agricultural paper,
published upon the American continent,
and but few of any other kind. Daniel
Webster, Henry Clay, John G. Calhoun,
Abraham Lincoln, u. S. Grant, men
who have since moulded the destiny of
the nation, were yet unborn. Napoleon
the First had not yet convulsed all Eu-
rope with his cruel wars, and the city of
London, the largest and richest city. of
the world, with a population today, yof
over four millions had notthen as many
inhabitants as has the city of Chicago
to-day city of only so years growth.
One hundred years ago there were no
railroads, no steamboats,, no moving, no
reaping, no threshing machines, no iron
plows, no cook stoves, no ready-made
clothing, no spring wagons in fact,
there were none of the luxuries and few
of the utilities that the arts and sciences
have brought into common use during
the last half of the 10Th century. The
intellectual activities and developme ITS
have likewise kept pace with the growth
of the material interests. Institutions OF
learning of every grade, from the kin
dergarten to the university, have been
established and generously fostered in
every section of the land. Who of us
dare foretell what the next 100 years OF
our nations history will unfold? And
in contemplating these facts, do we
doubt the wisdom of our forefathers
when they stated at the commencement
of their deliberation that the reason why
they ordained and established the CON
stitution "was to form more perfect
government, establish justice, insure
! domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liber-
ty to themselves and their posterity."
J. w. T,